[Critical epidemiology: for a theoretical praxis of knowing how and when to act]

Some of the most significant questions related to the concept of health present in contemporary discursive practices, such as its relation with the normative capacity of the individuals when faced with the institution of new social and/or biological norms, are initially reexamined in this paper. Subsequently, the dialectical model of the social determination process of health-disease is examined in the context of the contradictory processes of the social reproduction system as in the scope of the bio-psychological nexuses on outcome and its historically specific ways of life. The contradictory dimensions of the capitalist social reproduction process and their techno-economic logic of production and consumption are then analyzed, considering their respective impacts on the living and health conditions of citizens and communities. Lastly, the importance of the emancipative praxis for epidemiology in the achievement of well-being and quality of life are considered and the need for commitment in the construction of a new paradigm for the public health field in its praxis of knowing how and when to act are emphasized.